Chapter 11: Asking for an Apology from the Enemy.

[Tch, how did they catch up?

Those hunters in Korez Town stopped chasing after the first attack, yet now there’s a wanted poster for me?]

Muttering internally, Suna strolled on a hillside overlooking Stada’s town square.

To match her backup disguise, she wore a Golden Bough Temple priestess robe under a hooded cloak, with a translucent veil hiding her face.

Though her outfit was odd, her crafted identity dispelled suspicion from Stada’s residents and innkeepers.

She couldn’t fathom how the hunters had tracked her so quickly or why they deployed so many, but her priority was escaping them.

Stada, a small border town with a few thousand residents, many doubling as border guards, made outsiders like her prime targets for investigation.

The hunters’ first move was checking inns, using simple magic trackers to search suspicious homes.

Observing their swift actions, Suna brainstormed ways to escape her predicament.

[Good thing I came out for a walk this afternoon, or I wouldn’t have spotted them so soon.

This gives me time to think.

Running’s not an option—they’ve set up a perimeter barrier.]

As she stood pondering, a patrolling hunter noticed her and approached.

“Hey, miss, who are you?

You don’t look local.”

Interrupted, Suna responded amicably.

“Hello, sir hunter.

I’m just a wandering saintess.

May I help you?”

The hunter stopped five meters away, eyeing her skeptically.

“A saintess hiding her face like that?

Wandering in a border town?

Don’t make me laugh.”

As he spoke, he drew a strange crescent-shaped blade from his black cloak.

Facing the scarred, forty-ish hunter, Suna, sensing his golden-tier strength, weighed her options.

[Should I take him down and incapacitate him?

No, that’s unrealistic.

They know I’m a shapeshifter, so they’re on high alert.

Attacking one would bring a swarm.

Without killing a few, I can’t break through, and I’d likely end up badly injured.]

Opting for peace, Suna decided to leverage her uninvited blessing.

“Doubting my identity?

Go ahead and test me.”

Though hesitant, unsure of her intentions, the scarred hunter used telepathy to call for backup while swiftly throwing a disruption orb to break transformation magic.

The orb exploded at her feet, releasing black magical turbulence meant to disrupt shapeshifting.

But at twenty centimeters from Suna, the turbulence was repelled by shimmering golden light.

Protected by the light, Suna showed no trace of her shapeshifter form.

She casually picked up the orb’s smoking remains.

“Is this your test?

Care to apologize now?”

As she spoke gently, surrounded by black smoke, the scarred hunter’s summoned allies arrived, witnessing the scene.

He looked visibly embarrassed.

The golden light was unmistakably the Golden Bough Goddess’s Corona Magic, triggered automatically from within her, not a fake from a magic tool.

This strongly suggested Suna bore the goddess’s blessing.

Even hunters with imperial search authority couldn’t openly clash with her.

“Sorry, Saintess.

I was rude and apologize for my recklessness.”

“I accept your apology…”

Before Suna could finish, basking in her escape via the [Veil of Truth] blessing, a sonic boom swept through Stada.

A black-red fireball erupted in a corner of the town, casting an eerie glow, followed by rising gray-black smoke.

The hunters’ battle had begun, though not because of Suna.

Glancing at the black-red flames and the rising smoke column, Suna narrowed her eyes, then looked toward the explosion site.

“Looks like you found something serious!

Need my help, hunters?”

As she spoke, the gathered hunters sprinted toward the incident.

The scarred hunter tossed back a reply.

“Sorry, Saintess, stay put and keep safe.

This is our job—we’ll handle it.”

Watching them rush off like a storm, Suna shrugged and headed to her inn.

Less than a minute later, the battle in the town’s corner grew fiercer.

Black-red flames scorched houses, and gray-black smoke shrouded the battlefield.

Amid the chaos of smoke and fire, armed hunters fearlessly fought a massive, indistinct figure in the haze.